Bourbon and Coke Meatloaf

This Kentucky-style Bourbon and Coke Meatloaf will become the only way you will want to eat meatloaf. The flavor is awesome! The meatloaf is flavored with bourbon, coke, and lots of bacon and has a ketchup and brown sugar glaze. Leftovers are great for making a meatloaf sandwich.

This is a recipe I adapted from the cookbook “Smoke and Pickles” by Edward Lee. Chef Lee owns the restaurant 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Kentucky. His food has both southern and Korean influences.

The recipe in the cookbook is of a Bourbon and Coke Meatloaf Sandwich. He uses the grease that cooks off from the meatloaf to make a sawmill gravy for the sandwich and he tops it with a fried egg. Totally something I would order at a restaurant, but I thought it was a little over the top for a weeknight meal. I tweaked the recipe for the actual meatloaf a little and it was fabulous!

I had never added bourbon or coke to a meatloaf and they both really work. To make the meatloaf, onion, celery, mushrooms, and bacon are sauteed along with garlic. They are mixed into 80% lean ground beef along with egg, fresh bread crumbs, and ketchup which help bind the meatloaf. For flavoring, Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons Coke, 1 tablespoon bourbon, and Italian seasoning are added.

This Kentucky-style Bourbon and Coke Meatloaf will become the only way you will want to eat meatloaf. The flavor is awesome! The meatloaf is flavored with bourbon, coke, and lots of bacon and has a ketchup and brown sugar glaze. Leftovers are great for making a meatloaf sandwich.

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Southern

Servings: 6

Author: Christin Mahrlig

Ingredients

1tablespoonbutter

1heaping cupfinely chopped onion

1/4cupfinely chopped celery

1heaping cupchopped white mushrooms

4slicesbacon,chopped

1garlic clove,minced

1 1/4poundsground beef chuck (80% lean)

1/2cupfresh bread crumbs

1large egg

1large egg yolk

1/4cupketchup

2tablespoonsCoca-Cola

1tablespoonbourbon

1teaspoonWorcestershire sauce

1/2teaspoonItalian seasoning

3/4teaspoonsalt

1/2teaspoonpepper

Glaze

1/3cupketchup

2teaspoonssoy sauce

1 1/2tablespoonsbrown sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery and cook for 3 minutes.

Add mushrooms, bacon, and garlic and cook 4 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and let cool.